Land of the Free, Home of the Brave

So one of the side effects of being in a house full of boys is the fascination with all things violent. And deadly. And scary.  My boys are totally enthralled with things that would probably make most mothers gasp and feign disgust. Or, they may legitimately be disgusted.  Because watching a snake eating a alligator is pretty gross. And creepy. Don't believe me? YouTube it. I assure you I'm on some sort of watch list at Google because of the things that have been viewed over and over and over at our house.

When my boys wake up, whether it be from a nap or nighttime, they are immediately requesting something inherently violent from YouTube.  It is never something tame or sweet.  "I want alligators eating monkeys!" "I want alligators eating a watermelon!" "I want dinosaurs!!!!"  Seriously. I'm surrounded by boys. All boys.  And sometimes I cave, because laundry needs to be done. Or that room that has been collecting dust for two years FINALLY needs to be painted.  So, sweet innocent children, here's the iPad, with all your favorite Jurassic Park scenes.

Earlier this spring, the Dallas Zoo announced that they had partnered with Dinosaurs Live!, which meant dinosaurs were coming to the Dallas Zoo for 6 months.  Yay!! Put up the YouTube and let's go see these things in real life!  Paul and I had that same feeling you have on Christmas morning as a parent, or possibly the same feeling you have as a parents when you take your kid to Disney for the first time (for those brave enough to make that trek) - we couldn't wait to see the boys' expressions. Shockingly, however, when it came to our oldest child, there was no excitement or fascination.  It was simply fear. Complete and utter fear.  We have very few photos to commemorate those first dinosaur encounters because we were too busy chasing him.  I had no idea that kid was so fast. Because when Henry laid eyes on those things, that boy R-U-N-N-O-F-T.  We did manage to snag one video (just ignore that mean mama baiting the husband into getting a  reaction from Henry for the camera).

So instead of jumping to the extreme conclusion that our eldest was a total wimp scaredy-cat, we chalked it up to the possibility that the dinosaurs were huge and actually kinda creepy.  I mean, he did watch a T-Rex eat a guy huddled in a hut...

But that theory was quickly quashed, since it appears he's also scared of small creatures as well.

Clearly, my kids are very confused about the definition of the word brave.  Henry regularly tells us he's brave, but any child who's choking on his sobs over a baby snake is likely not brave.  And poor Walter... my sister is convinced that he has very good deductive reasoning skills.  If Henry is brave, as he so declares, then Walter must not be brave.  I mean, clearly.

So, because of incidents like these, this has become the summer of bravery lectures and discussions. We've had many discussions about animatronic dinosaurs (or statues, as Henry calls them), costumes, and things that are not real, like monsters in your closet (thanks a lot, Monsters, Inc.).  We've made some progress, although I believe Henry's bravery is going to be years in the making. Unfortunately, we've found that he will eventually cave under peer pressure.  Something to look forward to in his teens...

He also finally decided that the dinosaurs hadn't really moved since they arrived months ago.  So we got a few tentative photos.

And on our last visit, he decided to follow in his little brother's footsteps and fully ham it up.  Like I said, peer pressure.

In the meantime, we've also got a wee bit more brave when it comes to snakes.  Although it may have something to do with his Leonardo helmet and him being fully enclosed.  I bet he'd bolt if Paul took him out of the bike trailer.

But, as with everything in toddlerhood, for every step forward, you must take two steps back.  We discovered, after a few minutes on this fire truck, that Henry is now scared of fire trucks.  We have no idea why, and there is, of course, no rational explanation.

He is also scared of fireworks.  And people dressed in gorilla suits walking in a parade.  And dinosaur parade floats.  My mom was also recently showing him photos of me when I was his age at Disney World.  He is now terrified of the thought of Disney World, and has announced that when we go to Disney World next year, he will go to Grandma and Grandpa's in Pennsylvania. Sigh. But until then, we will continue encouraging our eldest to be brave.  Even if that means dragging him through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, kicking and screaming.

Walter's 2!

If I'm going to update the blog after a 6 month hiatus, what better way than to celebrate my little man's second birthday?!?

This baby child is such a joy.  He smiles from the inside out.  Unless he's hungry.  And then you need to sprint to the kitchen and prepare a meal of his liking.  Otherwise, prepare for immediate crocodile tears (it's like he stores them and always has them ready to go at a moment's notice!), wailing, and gnashing of teeth.  He likes chicken, spaghetti, ketchup, chocolate, candy, and fruit.  Sometimes fruit dipped in ketchup.  Sometimes lasagna. Sometimes beef. Sometimes broccoli (I suspect this is peer pressure from his older brother, who only eats vegetable and never fruit).  Sometimes rice.  Clearly, we're still working on the whole "balanced diet" thing.

His vocabulary is about 1/3 of what Henry's was at this age, but fortunately, Henry can interpret many of Walter's "words."  It's a skill of Henry's we regularly employ.  When Walter sings, he moves his head from side-to-side in the most precious way.  When we are leaving somewhere, he runs and gives everyone a hug and kiss without hesitation.  And by everyone, I mean everyone. Usually including the dogs.  When he kisses, he puckers up his big lips and will slime you. So be warned.  He actually enjoys being rocked (unlike my older one who likes his own space).  

He is OBSESSED with Henry. They are without question the best of friends.  They're attached at the hip all hours of every day, except the few hours each week at church when they are in a different classroom.  If Henry's doing something, Walter has to do it too.  This includes playing with the same toy, wearing similar clothes (heaven forbid I send Henry to school in a super hero shirt and not Walter), watching the same stuff, talking about the same thing, etc.

For some delusional reason, I was worried Walter wouldn't get the birthday recognition Henry does since he's the second child.  Not only did he get spoiled rotten, the celebration went on for an entire week!  It started with birthday doughnuts.

It was followed by a celebration at school.

This is what we call a sugar crash between parties.

We then went straight from school to my parents' house, where again, he was the star of the show!

We then threw a pony party for this animal-loving child.  The child continues to talk about the ponies, horse, bunny, and pig.  And fortunately, despite the snow 48 hours before the party, it turned out to be a gorgeous day with perfect weather!  We needed a redemption after our last 2 year-old party!

So thankful for such sweet friends who would come celebrate my sweet baby!

 

Henry demanded that Gigi take a photo of his dragon so he could see what it looked like.

A few days after his pony party, we boarded a plane for a spring break trip to Grandma and Grandpa's.  Which, of course, means he needs to be celebrated AGAIN!

We now sleep with this puppy every night.  Which means he gets kicked or knocked out of bed at least once a night, causing him to talk or sing. Every. single. night.

And as I did with Henry, I decided to conduct an interview.  Always a good idea when you have a child with a small vocabulary.

What is something Mama always says to you? [Silence, which is the opposite of what Mama is usually saying to you.]

What makes you happy? [Blank stare, followed by indecipherable mumbling.]
What makes you sad? [Ignores me completely.]

What makes you laugh? [Something not in the English language.]  What makes you laugh? Thomas!
How old are you? [Giggling hysterically over nothing in general. Maybe Mama trying to interview you makes you laugh?]

How old is Mama? How much?

How old is Dadda? How much?

What is your favorite thing to do? My [indecipherable mumbling] mama!

Who is your best friend? Thomas.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I wanna go get my book. Milk.
What is your favorite food? Cereal. [TRUTH.]
What is your favorite song? Spaghetti. [As in, "On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese...."  I then proceeded to ask him to sing it, and he got to the second word before pointing to me and telling me to sing it.  Second children are quite demanding.]
What is your favorite animal? Giraffe.
What is love? Elephant! [as he attempts to make elephant noises.]
What does Mama do for work? Airplane!  You mean Mama flies on airplanes for work? Yes!

What does Dadda do for work? Airplanes! [Not true at all, although I'm sure there are times he was on an airplane instead of being trapped in a classroom with his students.]
Where do you live? Airplane!  You live on an airplane? Yup! Fall down! [as he tumbles to the ground on purpose for the 10,000th time that day.]

Where is your favorite place to go? [indecipherable mumbling] Where do you like to go? School, zoo, grandma and grandpa's, gigi and papa's, church?  THE ZOO!!!!! It's fun!

If I was a reporter by profession, this interview alone would get me fired.  Mainly because the above took over six minutes, very little of which contained any actual responsive information.  And for half the interview, he was hiding in his closet having a conversation with himself in another language.

Overall, not a bad birthday week for a 2 year-old.  Especially considering he's the second child! ;)